The Philadelphia Flyers have a modest 12-12-4 record this season with a prospect pool that doesn’t have projectable franchise talent. Nonetheless, their future is very bright and they can make it a whole lot brighter in the 2025 offseason. The time for them to take the next step has come.
The Flyers might say they’re rebuilding, but this team is at a point where building up is far more beneficial than doing nothing. They’re likely to finish right around the playoff line in back-to-back seasons, but their improving upside is the key. At the latest, the 2025 offseason is the time to take a swing for the sake of the present and the future.
Michkov May Reach Superstar Heights Sooner Than We Thought
As one of Matvei Michkov’s supreme optimists entering this season, I had expectations far beyond the general public. He has surpassed those expectations.
Among the 418 forwards with at least 10 games played this season, he is 47th in points per game (0.96) and 35th in points per 60 minutes (3.37). The latter mark is the fourth best recorded by a teenage rookie with 200 minutes of ice time since 2007-08, behind Connor McDavid (twice) and Steven Stamkos. The only other player above 3.25 is Auston Matthews.
Matvei Michkov has played his final game as a 19-year-old.
His points per 60 (check graphic for qualifications) among teenagers since 2007-08:#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/G4BJSUNRaT
— Justin Giampietro (@justingiam) December 9, 2024
We don’t have to stop there. While the Flyers are getting better as a possession team, they still aren’t at league-average. It’s easy to overlook, but you need the puck in the offensive zone to score goals (well, most of them, anyway). So, Michkov’s numbers are somewhat understated because of the team he’s playing for.
Through his first 26 games, Michkov scored 7.77 points per 60 minutes spent in the offensive zone. To put that in perspective, that is greater than what six of last season’s top 10 scorers are at in 2024-25:
| Player | Points Per 60 Minutes in the Offensive Zone |
| Nathan MacKinnon | 7.70 |
| David Pastrnak | 5.97 |
| Auston Matthews | 6.76 |
| Mikko Rantanen | 7.25 |
| J.T. Miller | 6.87 |
| William Nylander | 7.17 |
What Michkov is doing as a young rookie is very special; it’s something the NHL hasn’t seen in quite a while. Considering he has only gotten better with time, it wouldn’t be a wild take to have him at a higher-scoring clip by season’s end. Even with his generally unsustainable…
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